In India Today: Gandhi : Stormy Petrel of Indian Politics Pathé Gazette No. 1705

Newsreel capturing the final leg of Mahatma Gandhi’s epic 24-day march through Gujarat to break the colonial salt laws.

This Pathé newsreel captures the excitement of Indian crowds as they throng to see Gandhi and attend his prayer meeting on the final day of his 240-mile march to the coast to protest the government’s salt tax laws. The global depression of the 1930s ravaged India’s rural economy, and Gandhi’s simple but meticulously planned march sought to highlight the oppressive nature of British rule.

Colonial authorities dismissed the march as a stunt and refused to intervene but international media interest and newsreels such as this transformed the month-long protest into a global event, helping to win international sympathy for Gandhi’s cause. This coverage greatly influenced the decision made by editors of Time Magazine to name ‘Saint Gandhi’ their Person of the Year 1930. Dr. Eleanor Newbigin (SOAS University of London)